Special needs school opens Monday in Oroville

OROVILLE — A non-public school that will serve students with special needs who live in Butte County and beyond, will begin the new school year Monday in Oroville.

The facility is Sierra School of Butte County, for students first grade through 12th grade with disabilities such as emotional disturbances, learning difficulties and autism spectrum, according to Director Sheila McCarthy. She hopes to eventually open an autism center, as well.

The parent company, Specialized Education Services, Inc., is leasing space at the vacant Oroville City Elementary School District's Eastside School.

The school will be using two classrooms to start, and will be opening a third classroom "very quickly," McCarthy said.

Sierra School will generally serve students ages 7 through 17, although by law they can attend until they're 22.

Students from districts in Oroville, Chico, Paradise, Thermalito and Marysville will attend.

Many of the students previously attended a program called Youth For Change, but it shut down, said Steve Olmos, an assistant superintendent at Butte County Office of Education. Olmos said recent retiree Roy Applegate was instrumental in bringing the school to Butte County.

Twenty-five youth are enrolled in the school. They were referred by their neighborhood school districts under Individual Education Plans, known as IEPs.

"Typically, the students we work with have been in public school and were not successful in that environment for a number of reasons, whether behavior, learning difficulty or the environment," said McCarthy at the site on Friday. "Some students just don't do well in a large environment."

The school has a behaviorally-based program, with a strong emphasis on academics. It's completely aligned with state curriculum, she said.

There will be 12 students to a class. Each class will have a teacher and a teacher's assistant. Also, depending on a student's IEP, there may be another adult in the classroom assigned to work with one individual.

Classrooms will consist of rotations of 20-minutes each in assisted study, independent study and computer time.

McCarthy said an integral part of the program at Sierra is a behavior program that infuses social skills in every facet of the day.

McCarthy explained that they get points for appropriate behavior, task achievement or completion, and positive peer interactions, to name a few.

At the end of the day, the points are totaled. Students can earn Sierra Dollars, and they will keep a "bank book" to purchase items parents have agreed to.

McCarthy started working in special education in the late 1980s and has been an administrator for the last seven years in a non-public setting.

Current Butte County Special Education Local Plan Area Director Rusty Gordon said Sierra School is a not a private school. It's a non-public school licensed by the state Department of Education and has to meet requirements of the license. He also noted Specialized Education Services schools are well-respected and have a good reputation.

Local school districts pay for Sierra School's services, which he said will cost $145 per day, per pupil. The districts get some extra funding for special education through the state and federal governments, and also get the average daily attendance revenue from the state for the students who attend Sierra School, Gordon said.

McCarthy said the school provides full-time counseling and guidance.

An additional fee will be charged if a student needs special therapy, such as speech therapy, McCarthy said.

Classes will be from 8:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., five days a week. Gordon said the school year will be 180 days.

Along with paying for the services, the students' home-district will be responsible for transportation to and from the facility.

Both McCarthy and Gordon said the goal for each student is to get them to where they're successful and able to return to their neighborhood district schools.

"I'm looking at it as a positive," Gordon said. "It's good for the county, good for the kids in the county, and good for school districts to have additional options."

Sierra Schools campuses are throughout California and Arizona.

Staff writer Barbara Arrigoni can be reached at 533-3136, barrigoni@orovillemr.com, or on Twitter @OMRBarbara.